


Of hiding illnesses & teddy bears

by CherryBlossomLesbian



Series: Prompt Fills [16]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic, Multi, Prompt Fill, Sickfic, Teddy Bears, ambiguous canon-related timeline, light insecurity and guilt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29212296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryBlossomLesbian/pseuds/CherryBlossomLesbian
Summary: Sam was looking forward to sleeping in.He was not looking forward to waking up with a horrible headache and shivering under the covers of the bed he shared with his boyfriends, their warmth gone.OR: Sam gets sick. He hides it from his boyfriends, for fear of being a burden. When Rhodey and Bucky find out, they try their best to make him feel better.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Sam Wilson
Series: Prompt Fills [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978546
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Of hiding illnesses & teddy bears

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Imagine Person A of your OT3 being sick but not wanting to worry their partners. They end up going to work with the flu and basically act like a zombie for the whole day. When they get home, B and C notice their state.  
> The rest of the week is spent with A in bed while B and C do everything to help A get better.  
> Bonus: After A gets better, B and C end up with the flu. 
> 
> [Original prompt post](https://ot3-promptz.tumblr.com/post/187880887846/imagine-person-a-of-your-ot3-being-sick-but-not)
> 
> Warnings: Considering some of the other works in this series, this one is pretty tame. Just a bit of insecurity.

Sam was looking forward to sleeping in. 

He was not looking forward to waking up with a horrible headache and shivering under the covers of the bed he shared with his boyfriends, their warmth gone. 

It was ten am when Sam awoke. Bucky had an early therapy appointment, and Rhodey had a PT appointment early as well. After that, they all had the standard meetings and paperwork that comes from being involved with SHIELD. None of their meetings today intercepted, however, meaning he wouldn't have to see Rhodey or Bucky during the entirety of his workday. 

He sighs as he pulls the covers closer to his chest, savoring the slight heat radiating off of the blankets piled on top of him.

He didn't want to disturb Rhodey or Bucky. They all had work to do that they couldn't skip. 

They wouldn't see each other until after dinnertime, after Sam's final meeting was over. Maybe, by then, he'd be feeling better, and he'd never have to admit to his boyfriends that he was ever sick. 

He got out of bed sluggishly and got ready for the day, stumbling through putting on a pair of jeans and a black sweater, before saying goodbye to Alpine and heading out the door. 

~~~~~

He trudged through his first meeting, keeping his head up most of the time. He caught Sharon eyeing him more than once, as if she knew something was wrong, but he raced out of the conference hall the second the meeting was dismissed, effectively dodging any questions she might have had. 

He took a nap after that instead of doing paperwork. The hardwood of his desk was cold, but his head decided it was the perfect resting place. 

Sam couldn't find the energy to disagree. 

Miraculously, he managed to wake up before his second meeting, and still have time to snatch a granola bar from a vending machine since he'd slept through his lunch break. 

The back-to-back sequence of three meetings, all on varying subjects, took so much out of him that he's pretty sure he looked like the walking dead after his day was finally over. 

The base was close enough to their apartment that Sam usually walked home. Today, however, with his legs feeling as if they would collapse on him at any second, he ordered a cab to drive him the short distance. 

The sun was set by the time he jammed his keys into the doorknob, opening the front door with all the energy he could muster. 

He was so hoping that both of his boyfriends would either be out of the apartment or already in bed, so they didn't have to see the horrid state he was in. Just a passing look in the cab rear view mirror of his sunken eyes and sickly pale skin was enough to set him on edge. 

He had no such luck. 

Rhodey and Bucky were both lying on the couch, Bucky's metal fingers interwoven with one of Rhodey's hands while the other gripped the TV remote and scrolled through the channels. Alpine was happily asleep in her pastel blue cat bed in the corner of the living room. 

It was a cute scene. 

It was instantly interrupted when they both turned their heads around to look at the doorway, and they saw Sam. 

"Sammy-" Rhodey began, as Bucky took his legs off of Rhodey's lap and detached his hand from his boyfriend's hold. 

"Bedtime." Bucky said, matter-of-a-factly, walking over to Sam and picking him up bridal style in one easy movement. 

"It's 6pm-" Sam protested, after he quickly got over the initial shock of Bucky holding him like he weighed nothing. He'd done it at least a dozen times by now, but it surprised Sam all the same when it happened. 

"Nope, he's right, bedtime." Rhodey backed Bucky up,. "I'll make some soup." 

"Thanks. I'll get him settled into bed." Bucky promised as Sam was carried through the threshold into their shared bedroom, the sheets undone and messy after Sam couldn't find the energy earlier in the day to make the bed before leaving for work. 

Bucky deposited him on the bed gently, opening the closest and pulling out one of his old sweaters with the SHIELD logo on it. It was just a little big on Sam, a tiny bit baggy in the torso area, but he loved it because it reminded him of Bucky. He's pretty sure he wears it more than Bucky does at this point. 

He pulled a pair of sweatpants and a pair of fuzzy socks with unicorns on them out of the dresser, placing everything in a neat little pile on the end of the bed. 

"You-" He paused for a minute to place a chaste kiss to Sam's forehead. "-get changed. I'm going to get a few things. Call for Rhodey if you need anything." 

And then Bucky was gone, and Sam heard the front door shut a few moments later. 

He sighed, feeling even more miserable that he was forcing his boyfriends to care for him. It was one thing feeling awful 'cause you're ill, it's another thing feeling bad that you need to be cared for. 

Put them together? You get insatiable guilt. 

Nevertheless, he slowly dragged himself out of the bed and peeled off his clothes. He'd been so cold during the day, he didn't even realize he had actually been sweating.

He put the new, clean clothes on, already feeling a lot better to be out of the gross garments and into one of his boyfriends' sweaters and fuzzy socks. 

He got under the covers again just as Rhodey came in with a glass of water and a bowl of steaming hot soup. 

"C'mon, sit up." He urged, setting the water and bowl on the nightstand to help Sam get in a suitable position for eating.

Once he was upright, Rhodey handed him the bowl. The outside porcelain of the bowl was surprisingly cool for how hot the contents inside seemed. 

"Chicken noodle?" Sam questioned with an upward tilt of his eyebrow upon seeing what exactly was in the bowl. 

Rhodey shrugged. "Look man, it's all we had, and you know the trope, right? Chicken noodle soup heals everything." 

He just shook his head as he brought the spoon to his lips. 

"It's really good." He nodded approvingly, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of the sweater as he chewed. "Thank you." 

"No problem, Sammy." Rhodey patted him gently on the shoulder, a comforting action to them both. "Me and Bucky are gonna take good care of you. I promise."

~~~~~~~

Bucky got home a few minutes after Sam had finished eating, and after Rhodey had forced him to drink two glasses of water to keep him hydrated. 

When Bucky came into the bedroom, Sam was greeted by another glass of water in his hand, along with medicine and a cream-colored stuffed bear. 

Sam huffed a laugh at seeing the stuffed animal. "Really, Barnes?" 

"What, I wanted to make you feel better." He defended as he placed the bear on the bed next to Sam. "So what if the cashier at the drugstore asked me if I had a sick kid?"

Sam actually laughed then, which led to a hacking cough, and then into a full blown coughing fit that ended with Bucky rubbing his back soothingly, trying to calm him down as Sam blinked tears from his eyes. 

When he finally settled down again, he swallowed the cold medicine Bucky had bought, before Bucky tucked him back under the covers and told him to get some rest after planting another kiss on Sam's forehead. 

For some reason, the stuffed bear Bucky had got him took away all his guilt and worries of being a burden for being sick. It was silly, and maybe a little stupid, but the bear had been bought for the sore purpose of making him feel better, making him feel happy and safe. Between the bear and the soup from earlier, it was obvious he was very loved by two incredible men. 

He shamelessly cuddled the stuffed bear to his chest as he drifted off to sleep. 

~~~~~~~

Sam recovered after two days. 

The same could not be said for his boys. 

Even though Sam only had to took two days off of work due to his illness, he had to take an additional four days off to care for Rhodey and Bucky, who caught his illness the second Sam started feeling better. 

It hit Bucky the worse. For the first two days, him and Rhodey laid in bed together, snuggled up to one another, and slept the day away. Sam made countless amounts of soup. It was manageable. 

Then Rhodey got better, and Bucky didn't. 

A SHIELD doctor made a house call to come by and look at Bucky. The doctor suspected he was having an increased reaction to whatever virus they had caught due to it interacting with the serum. She gave them a specially formulated antiviral, and two days later, Bucky was back to his normal, stubborn self. 

Alpine was the only one in the apartment untouched by the illness. Sam would be inclined to say she even enjoyed it, as she was able to cuddle in bed with Bucky for four straight days. 

The stuffed bear Bucky had bought from the drugstore had also comforted Rhodey and Bucky through their sicknesses, just as it had fit Sam. 

After they had all recovered, they placed the bear on their dresser, for the next time one of them got sick.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to submit a prompt for me to write, check out the notes of my prompt fills series this fic is in!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/cartersleia)
> 
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